A Knight and Her Ninja
by Eighth Swordsman of the Mist
Summary: His memory lost and dropped into a new world as a last resort, Naruto must do what he can to survive in this new land and help out the local Native Dragon. Of course, he won't be doing it alone. All the new friends that he's made will be there to support him along the way. Including the town's new Prince that recently lost his own memory as well. First RF4/Naruto crossover!
1. Prologue

**AN: Right, so for Christmas I got Rune Factory 4 and immediately fell in love with the game. I played non-stop for hours and I now have the main storyline finished. Shortly afterwards, I got an idea. I thought, "Hey, why not see if there are any crossovers of this series and Naruto?" So, I went on FanFiction and looked. Sure enough, there were. Which was only a sad number of 2 stories. The most reviews one of them having is 3 and it wasn't even the same game that I had in mind for this story. Then again, no offense to the author this is just my personal opinion, it was poorly written with only 215 words. So, after thinking for awhile, I decided to write my own story! To be quite honest, I'm not expecting that many reviews on this considering how under-the-radar this crossover is. But, reviews would be very nice and I would love to see what you think of the story. Lastly, this story will be Naruto-centric with the beginning part being first-person before switching over to third. Now, without further ado, I shall begin the story! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Rune Factory series or Naruto. Both belong to their respectful owners.**

_**A Knight and Her Ninja.**_

_**Arc One: Welcome to Selphia!**_

_**Prologue.**_

Pain.

All I could feel was pain. Every bone in my body ached so badly that they _refused _to move. My muscles were sore to the point of numbness. To top it all off, I had a killer headache. I could feel a cool liquid running down my neck, starting from the top of my head. I didn't know what it was, but now that I think about it, I really don't want to know. I groggily opened my eyes and then immediately closed them. I felt my headache worsen as my eyes tried and failed to adjust to what they saw. I slowly opened them once more and let them adjust. My vision started out blurry before ever so slowly focusing in and clearing up. I could now make out what looked liked a desert battlefield. Wild fires were burning everywhere along with jagged pieces of rock jutting out of the ground. It was then that my brain registered what I was seeing and my eyes widened in shock.

Hell.

That one word pretty much summed up what an 18 year-old, blond haired, blue-eyed teen was currently viewing. Bloodied bodies littered the battlefield as far as the eye could see. Some of the corpses were missing limbs, while others were destroyed beyond recognition. The blond teen nearly vomited at the sight but used all of his will power not to. Struggling, the teen propped himself up against the rock that he was resting on. The teen did this while ignoring the pain that surged throughout his entire body at the slightest movement. When he got himself into a somewhat comfortable position, the teen noticed his attire.

The teenager was dressed in what he guessed had been an orange and black jacket on top of a black T-shirt. The jacket was torn everywhere with holes the size of his hand. His shirt, well, what remained of it, worse-off than his jacket. The black T-shirt was barely holding onto his sweat and blood covered body by only a few threads. When the teen's gaze inspected his lower body, he found that his bloodstained, orange track-pants and sandals were in a slightly better condition than his jacket and shirt. Still, the track-pants had their fair amount of holes in them as well.

The teen returned his gaze to the battlefield where he could only wonder one question.

_'What's going on, where am I?'_

As he tried to make sense of what was happening around him, a new thought entered his mind.

_'Who am I?'_

The teen struggled to remember his name, as he assumed that he had one. He heard a small voice in the back of his mind. The voice was soft and faint, and he couldn't make out what it was saying. The voice came again yet this time it was a little louder. The voice he heard felt familiar to him, yet foreign all at the same time. The teen couldn't make heads-or-tails of it and shook his head in confusion. The voice came again yet more clearer than its pervious attempts. The voice was low and had a masculine tone to it. It also had a harsh edge to it and seemed... annoyed? The teen had absentmindedly made note of these things. However, what caught his attention the most was what the voice said. Two simple words but two words that meant the world to the teen.

Naruto Uzumaki.

_'Is... is that my name?'_ The teen thought. He repeated the words several times in his head and the more he said it, the more he was sure that it was his name.

_'Naruto... Uzumaki. Yes... That's my name, it has to be it!' _The newly named Naruto thought with excitement and conviction. Naruto began to once again observe his surroundings and was still confused and horrified at the sight. Everywhere he looked he only saw corpses. Not a single living person was standing on the on the battlefield. Naruto was then overcome with an emotion that was very familiar to him. Loneliness. There was not a single person that could help him and he felt alone, confused, and afraid. Naruto was beginning to lose all hope of someone finding him when a miracle happened.

Naruto jumped when he felt a hand collapse on his shoulder. He immediately looked towards the source and was both surprised and overwhelmed with joy at what he saw.

There stood a man with gravity-defying silver hair. The man wore a bloodstained, forest-green, flack-jacket. Underneath the flack-jacket was a dark-blue body suit with several rips and tears in it. On his pants was a pouch that looked like it would fall off if the tiniest breeze would brush it. The most prominent feature of the man was the torn-up headband that covered his left eye completely with the rest of his lower face being covered up by a mask.

It was then that Naruto noticed the concern and worry that was shone in the man's lone eye. The man seemed to be speaking but Naruto couldn't hear him. Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion. This response seemed the placate the man before he started speaking again. Once again Naruto couldn't hear him or the world around him. This went on for several minutes before a giant shadow loomed over the two, startling the pair into looking up.

What Naruto saw then would forever scar his mind and continue to haunt him in his dreams for the rest of his life. There stood towering over the wasteland was the most enormous creature he had ever seen, (even if he couldn't remember anything past ten minutes ago.) The creature, no, _titan_ stood, radiating the most horrifying feeling that Naruto had experienced. Naruto felt so much hate and malice that he wanted to do practically _anything_ to escape it.

The beast stood towering the two humans at a height that made Naruto feel like a grain of rice compared to. The body of the beast was somewhat humanoid with two muscular arms, but that was where the similarities ended. The titan had ten tails that were just as long as the beast itself. Each tail looked like they could reshape the earth drastically with a single swipe. Jutting out of the titan's back looked to be like wooden spikes that could pierce even the hardest metals without any effort. But the one thing that caught Naruto's attention was the monsters' lone eye. The entirety of the eye was blood-red. The pupil had three black rings expanding out of the center of the eye along with three comma-like marks were on each ring, giving it an intimidating look. However, these features alone weren't what scared Naruto the most of the eye. No, it was the hate that was contained in the eye that scared him. All that hate was directed on Naruto and the man that stood by him. This is what scared Naruto the most.

The man shook Naruto out of his daze, putting Naruto's sole attention on the man. The man spoke but Naruto still couldn't hear him. However, Naruto did see urgency in the man's eye and was slightly confused. His confusion ended when he saw what the man was pointing at.

One of the titan's tails was moving with the intent to crush them at an alarming rate.

Naruto felt fear rise up in him as he looked to the man, silently praying for a miracle to save them. Instead of a miracle, the man raised the headband and uncovered his left eye. What Naruto saw slightly surprised him. The man's left eye was blood-red like the titan's, only the man's had three comma-like marks in them without any rings at all. Then Naruto was surprised once again the design of the man's left eye morphed into what looked like three stretched triangles with the points curving at the top to form a circle.

Naruto voiced out his confusion about what the man was planning to do but, to his shock, found that no sound was produced. Naruto saw the man's gaze shift to the oncoming tail and found it surprisingly closer than before. The man shifted his gaze back to Naruto before saying one last word that left Naruto confused.

"Goodbye, Naruto. Kamui," the man said, much to Naruto's obvious shock. Naruto then felt a strong pulling in his chest. He looked down and found what looked like a small, black hole in the center of his chest, right above the navel. Naruto felt his entire body begin to warp around the black hole before being sucked in. He looked up at the man with utter shock on his face, then he noticed the tail of the titan was nearly on top of them.

Right as the tail was about to strike them, Naruto's vision went black.

**AN: Alright! Prologue is done and it took several re-writes before I was satisfied w****ith it. Incase I forgot to mention this before, this story will be a crossover with Rune Factory 4. I honestly don't know what else to say considering I'm wiped out and it's 1 AM at the moment. So, I hope that all of you who decide to read this will enjoy it. Reviews are always welcome and I appreciate constructive-criticism. **


	2. The Town of Selphia

**AN: Here's Chapter 1, (or 2 if you count the Prologue as 1,) for you guys. I'll be honest, while miniscule compared to my other story, I was very surprised by the amount of reviews for the Prologue! So my thanks goes out to all of you guys including those of you who also followed and favorited the story as well. Anyway, as I stated in the prologue, considering that this crossover is considered under-the-radar, (particularly the specific game I'm using.) I'll do my best to help explain basics and what you need to know about the game Rune Factory 4 to accurately follow the story. Being completely honest here, Rune Factory 4 is the only game I've played in the series. Though, before I wrote the Prologue, I went and researched more about the series so I wouldn't be completely ignorant of possible important details. So, please bear with me because this will be quite a challenge for myself to do. Anyway, enjoy the official Chapter 1! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Rune Factory series. Both belong to their respectful owners.**

_**A Knight and Her Ninja**_

_**Arc One: Welcome to Selphia!**_

_**Chapter 1: The Town of Selphia.**_

**Tuesday, Spring 27, Year 1612. **

**Location: Selphia.**

**Time: 05:30.**

Naruto shot up in his bed with a fear stricken face and shaking hands. Sweat covered his body as his heart pounded violently against his chest. His breath was labored as he scanned his surroundings. Once Naruto's eyes adjusted to the darkness around him, he was able to calm his breathing and heart rate down to a calm level. Now that his eyes were adjusted to the darkness surrounding him, Naruto was able to make out the entirety of his room. The room was rather small, with a full-size bed, a small desk and a closet. The bed itself took up about a quarter of the room and it was located in the back of the room. The small desk and closet was to the top left and middle right of the room respectively. Behind the desk was a window that showed a rather beautiful view of the valley that was situated beneath the mountain side that held Selphia. It also gave a very good view of the sunrise during the morning.

Naruto sighed as he rubbed his head as he tried to make sense of nightmare that he just had. This nightmare had been reoccurring over the past few months during the year that he had been staying in Selphia. The nightmare had always featured him, the man, and that... titan. Despite all that, he was very confused at the vague sense of familiarity that came with the nightmare.

Sighing once again, Naruto stood up and went over to his closet. Once he was usually awoken by a nightmare, he couldn't fall asleep a second time. Opening his closet door, Naruto scanned the items of clothing he owned. Finally deciding on a light orange, long-sleeve shirt and tan brown pants, Naruto slipped out of his nightwear and into the articles of clothing. Bending down to open a rather small chest at the bottom of the closet, he opened it to find several pieces of steel armor, a belt, and two small sheaths that held a pair of twin, iron daggers. Putting on the pieces of steel armor that protected his shins and arms, a leather jacket and a pair of fingerless gloves, Naruto adjusted each piece of armor before finally picking up the belt that would hold the pair of twin daggers on his thighs for quick and easy access. Finishing putting on the last of his equipment, Naruto double checked himself over for missing anything before nodding in approval.

Making his way out of his room and into the small living room that held a fireplace, a couch, and a table that had various items strewn across it. Off to the side of the living room was a kitchenette had a stove, a fridge, and several cabinets that held a variety of items for making an assortment of foods. Making his way out of his house and closing along with locking the door behind him, Naruto took in a deep breath of the morning air and exhaled pleasantly. Observing his surroundings, Naruto noticed to the left of him that the sun was now rising above the horizon, painting the sky a peaceful orangery-pink color. He let out a sigh. Naruto supposed he should probably start his patrol around the town and get it over with.

As Naruto began making his rounds around the rather large village, he couldn't help but think about his first impression when he saw the town for the first time.

Selphia was a town that resided in the Kingdom of Norad within the continent of Adonea. Adonea has many countries but the two major ones are the Norad Kingdom and the Sechs Empire. From what Naruto had learned about the two countries, Norad had developed as a magic civilization while its counterpart, the Sechs Empire, had developed as a machine oriented civilization. Getting back on track, Selphia was a rather large town that was ruled by the Native Dragon Ventuswill. Native Dragons were considered god-like beings with eminence power. There are four in total, but Ventuswill was the only only who actually involved herself with natives. Ventuswill did socialize with townspeople, but from what Naruto had heard, it was very limited. Back to the town itself, despite being very large, Selphia had a rather small population were mostly everyone knew everyone. Selphia was also very intuned with nature considering that amount of trees the town had _far_ outnumbered the number of houses and manmade buildings.

As Naruto began his patrol around town, he followed his daily route that he always took. He would start at the south-eastern most part of town which was called Melody Street and also where his home was. He would then work his way west till he reached the entrance to Dragon Lake. Dragon Lake resides in the south-western most part of town and it is considered a very popular spot during the summertime. The lake itself was about medium to large in size and is viewed as one of the best relaxation spots. It also has a large variety of fish that is in great abundance.

After about five minutes of walking, Naruto glanced over to his right where he spotted Carnations, a two-story flower shop that was owned by an elf named Illuminata. The bottom floor of the building was the actual shop while the top floor is where Illuminata lived. Illuminata was a red-haired elf that stood at about 5'7" and looked around 27 years old but was most likely much older due to being an elf. She also thinks of herself as a great detective and sometimes dressed as one too whenever she said she was on a grand, mysterious case. Sadly, she's never really solved said cases. Naruto also knew that Illuminata could be a bit hyperactive at times, especially whenever she was in her "detective" modes.

Continuing on, Naruto climbed up a small set of staircases that would lead him to the town square and also the castle where Ventuswill and her butler as well as the butlers-in-training lived. The head butler was a 70 year-old man Volkanon. Volkanon is a very... odd man. He is physically well built and showed no signs of his old age affecting him and his work as he is able to preform superhuman feats of strength. He also had a very eccentric personality as he can be very emotional about his work and can cry very easily over the simplest of things. For some reason, whenever Naruto saw Volkanon in one of his moods, he would sometimes see Volkanon being replaced by a tall man with bowl-shaped haircut and wearing a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers. The man would sometimes shout about things being 'youthful' and it always sent shivers down Naruto's spine. Thankfully, the vision never lasted long at all. Anyway, being a top-notch butler he was also responsible for training the new butlers. He's most recent apprentices being a boy and girl around Naruto's age group. Their names were Vishnal and Clorica.

Vishnal stood at a tall 5'10" and is 18 years-old. He has blue hair that barely reached his shoulders and was a butler-in-training under Volkanon. He is very nice and friendly and always gives his best for whatever he was working on despite most of his attempts at cooking always ending in failures. He also is the type of person who wore their heart on their sleeves so it was easy to tell how he was feeling. Vishnal is also very passionate about his job as a butler and one could sometimes literately see a fire burning in his eyes. Again, whenever Naruto saw Vishnal being very passionate about something, Vishnal was sometimes replaced by a younger clone of the man that would replace Volkanon and be screaming something about 'youth.'

Finally, there was Clorica. Clorica was a beautiful woman that just turned 19 with long, purple hair that she usually braided into two ponytails that went down to the middle of her back and also a butler-in-training under Volkanon like Vishnal. Like Vishnal, she is very kind-hearted, friendly, easygoing, and a supportive person to others. Clorica is also a hard worker. However, unlike Vishnal, she has a habit of falling asleep while working on any task she's given. Though, incredibly enough, even while she is asleep, she can still preform her job very well and to the letter. Clorica can be a bit absent-minded and forgetful but Naruto chalked this up to her falling asleep all the time.

Volkanon, Clorica and Vishnal lived in the western part of the castle while Ventuswill lived in the center. The eastern part of the castle had an empty room and it has been that way for a while. Though, Naruto had heard some rumors going around town that a prince of Norad would be visiting and Naruto figured that the prince would live in the spare room that was the eastern part of the castle.

As Naruto continued his daily patrol around the town, he came upon the eastern part of Selphia that was known as the Housing Area. This part of town, as stated by the name, was where most of the townspeople lived. It is also where the Tiny Bandage Clinic and the Blacksmith "Meanderer" is located. The Tiny Bandage Clinic is run by the couple Nancy and Jones. A married couple that are nice and sweet to others but much to the towns discomfort, happen to show their affection to each other while in public. Then there is the Bado, the most laziest person in town and also a blue-haired dwarf blacksmith who owned the Blacksmith "Meanderer." The man was nice but happen to scheme a lot by trying (and failing) to get-rich-quick that involved the lest amount of work possible. Naruto also bought most of his equipment and weapons from Bado who he was recommend to by Forte. Naruto paused in his steps and gained a small blush when Forte's name came to his mind.

_**Flashback: One year ago.**_

When Naruto had first woken up outside of Selphia in the forest, he was heavily injured and was losing a lot of blood at the time. It also made things worse when the only thing he could remember was his name and it was nighttime. Naruto had been on the verge of exhaustion as he wondered aimlessly through the forest when he saw a small camp fire. Hope had sprung into his heart as he walked in a drunken fashion to it like a moth would to a light. When he came upon a small clearing in the forest where the camp fire was located, danger warnings went off in his head. Instead of there being someone or people who could help him, there were three creatures that were small but still looked very dangerous if they were provoked (Naruto would later know them as Orcs.) When the monsters spotted him, they immediately thought of him as a possible hostile and tried to attack him.

The keyword in that sentence is tried.

Just before the closest one could attack him with its blunted, metal weapon, it was slashed by a long, blue sword and disappeared in a column of purple light. Both Naruto and the monsters were surprised by the sudden action and looked to find his and their savior/new threat respectively. When Naruto saw who his apparent rescuer was, he found himself blown away by her beauty. Clad in a full suit of steel, blue armor and with her long, broad, blue sword held out defensively in front of her was who he would later know as Forte. She had beautiful blonde hair that was held together by a hair clip and her hair went down to the middle of her back as well as a steel helmet that rested on the top of her head. She stood defensively in front of Naruto, her cerulean blue eyes glaring unforgivingly at the monsters that tried to attack Naruto. Her eyes then shifted to Naruto where he saw them widen in worry at the state he was in. Naruto saw her spoke and this time he heard her -thank God- but her voice was muffled. He couldn't make out what she was saying. Though if he hazard a guess about what she was saying to him, it would most likely be along the lines of asking if he was okay.

One of the two remaining Orcs saw female warrior's gaze shift from them to the first intruder and made its move to attack her. It charged in recklessly with its metal, blunted weapon raised above its head as it gave battle cry. Forte and Naruto's head instantly snapped to the charging Orc and both were a tad bit surprised at how close it had gotten. However, Forte wasn't worried at all. No, she easily blocked the overhead strike from the Orc with her sword and easily maneuvered around it and into the Orc's blind spot. She immediately brought her sword down from the side and cut it diagonally to the right. The Orc gave out a single cry of pain before it to also disappearing in a column of purple light. Forte shifted her eyes to the last Orc to find it shaking in fear. The final Orc looked on in fear at the female warrior who easily dispatched both of its comrades and now it held her sole attention. Forte made a threatening step forward and the last Orc gave a cry of fright before fleeing as fast as it could into the wilderness.

Once Forte was sure that the Orc was not coming back, she turned back to the man she just saved only for eyes to widen in surprise and fright at was she saw. Naruto was now laying on the ground unmoving and was more than likely bleeding out. Forte immediately sheathed her long sword back into its scabbard and rushed to his side and checked his pulse. She gave a small sigh in relief when she found one but didn't relax completely just yet. Picking him up with his arm around her shoulder and her arm around his waist, she made a mad-dash to the Tiny Bandage Clinic where hopefully Nancy and Jones could heal him.

**-Line~break-**

When Naruto woke-up again, he found himself in an unfamiliar place. He was laying down on a rather comfortable bed with white sheets. When he tried to sit up he was assaulted with a painful headache and was forced to lay back down again, groaning in both pain and displeasure. This action, of course, got the attention of Nancy who was cleaning some medical equipment and was also responsible for nursing Naruto back to health. Nancy heard his groan and turned her attention to where she heard it come from, only for her eyes to widen in surprise at the sight of the whiskered-marked teen she was nursing back to health waking up.

"Oh my, I didn't expect you to be awake already, Young Man," was Nancy surprised yet happy comment.

Naruto blinked in surprise at the unexpected voice to find a rather beautiful woman in her early 30's by his bedside. She had long, blonde hair that went down to the middle of her back and a pair of dazzling blue eyes that sparkled in curiosity. She wore a pink dress with a light blue skirt as well as a pink headdress. Naruto blushed at her beauty and looked away which prompted a giggle from Nancy at his innocence. Naruto's face became redder when he heard her giggling into her hand and looked for something that would take the attention off of him.

"Er," Naruto stuttered out. "Excuse me miss, but where am I?"

"Oh, you're in the Tiny Bandage Clinic. When Forte brought you in, we are all really worried about you. Forte was practically begging us to heal you, that's the first time I've seen her this concerned about someone other than her younger brother, Kiel."

"I see... I guess I should thank you for healing me...," Naruto trailed off, uncertain of the woman's name.

"Nancy dear, and it's no problem at all, Honey." Nancy replied with a wave of her hand. "By the way," Nancy began. "I believe it is common courtesy to give your name when asking for someone else's."

Once again, Naruto's face turned red in embarrassment at his mistake.

"Oh, um, my name's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said sheepishly.

"Well then Naruto, it's a pleasure to meet you," Nancy replied with a smile.

"You too, Nancy," came Naruto's response with a mega-watt grin of his own. This caused Nancy to giggle into the palm of her hand and Naruto chuckle embarrassingly along with her.

After a few moments of the two of them sharing a laugh, both were able to calm down.

"Well, since you're now awake, I'll go let Forte know so she can visit you." Nancy began to leave the room that was separated by a single white curtain when Naruto called out to her.

"Wait, who's Forte?" Naruto asked with a rather confused expression to match his voice.

Nancy paused in her steps as she gained a thoughtful look on her face for a quick second before realization dawned upon her.

"Oh, silly me, I forgot to tell you." Nancy giggled out. This action caused Naruto sweat drop as Nancy giggled away innocently. When Nancy regained her composer, she had a sweet smile on her face as she explained who Forte was to Naruto.

"Forte is the young woman who found you just outside of the town gate. From what I recall her telling Jones and me, you had wondered into a small camp of Orcs and you were bleeding profusely. By the time she defeated all the Orcs, you had collapsed and were loosing a lot of blood. I have never seen her so afraid and desperate for someone other than Kiel before. Then again, you were on Death's doorstep from what Jones said..." Nancy trailed off as she gained a thoughtful look on her face once again. She was silent for a few seconds before turning to Naruto with a stern expression.

"Now Naruto, you should have known better than to just wander into an Orc camp, even if you were injured. What would your parents say if they found out about the state your in, hmm?"

At this, Naruto suddenly became very silent. At first, Nancy thought it was because he was mentally thinking of his parents scolding him. But after about three minutes of silence, Nancy began to worry.

"I...," Naruto began. Nancy frowned and her eyebrows furrowed in worry. She sat down on the bed that Naruto was currently occupying, making sure to not to be too close to him that it would make Naruto uncomfortable.

"I... I-I don't know..." At his response, Nancy was definitely worrying.

"You don't know?" Nancy repeated slowly.

"Y-Yeah. I don't know. I don't even remember my parents! I don't remember anything!" By now Naruto was almost yelling and his body was beginning to shake.

"I-I can't remember anything at all! All I know is my name! Just... Just who am I?!" Now Naruto was doing his best to not let the tears that felt in his eyes fall. Unknown to him, Nancy was having her own set of thoughts going through her head.

"_Lady Ventuswill bless his soul, this poor boy honestly can't remember anything!" _And it was true, Nancy could see it in his blood-shot, blue eyes. Naruto's unusually bright blue eyes had dimmed considerably as she watched him try his best to not cry in front of her. She felt her maternal instincts cry out for the whiskered blond teen. So Nancy did what any woman would do in her situation. She followed them.

Naruto felt his body tense up and his eyes widen in surprise as he felt a pair of arms encircle him. One arm brought him forward as the other moved up and a hand gently press his head onto a soft shoulder. Naruto now realized who was hugging him and felt a large desire to hold the woman tighter. He began hearing Nancy whisper out gentle and encouraging words in his ear.

"There, there, Naruto... It's alright, everything is alright. Shh... Just let it out, just let it all out." Nancy whispered out gently. And like that, the dam broke and tears began spilling out of Naruto's eyes.

The two blondes were like this for an hour. The elder blonde holding the younger one while the younger blond cried on the elder blonde's shoulder. When Nancy heard Naruto finally calm down, she noticed the emotionally distressed 18 year-old had cried himself to sleep. With a small smile, Nancy gently laid Naruto's head back down all the while whispering soothing words to him. She got up quietly, making sure not to disturb the blond's sleep and gazed down at him as a mother would with her child.

Now that Nancy really thought about it, save for the three whiskers that marked each of Naruto's cheeks (which was a surprising discovery after she had cleaned all the blood off of him,) Nancy could easily see the young man as her own son. After that last thought had entered Nancy's mind, she blinked in surprise before a smile formed on her face.

"_Well... it's probably best to let Jones know about Naruto and what happened. I'll talk to him some more about this in the morning. Who knows, maybe I can finally convince him about us having a child or at least adopting one."_ It was true, despite Selphia being very peaceful, it was sometimes very difficult to run the town's only clinic/hospital with only two people. Nancy and Jones were always busy and just couldn't find the time to raise a child. With her mind set, Nancy left the small room and made her way upstairs where she and Jones lived and also where Jones was fixing dinner. Turning off the light in Naruto's room, she gave the whiskered teen one last smile before making her way upstairs.

_**Flashback End: Present Day.**_

**-Line~Break-**

Naruto was snapped out of his reminiscing by the sound of his name being called.

"Naruto. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you being patrolling the northern part of Selphia by now?" Came a feminine and -in Naruto's opinion- angelic voice.

Naruto turned to face the owner of the beautiful voice and lo and behold, there stood Forte, clad in her usual steel, blue armor and her long sword sheathed, wearing a stern expression on her face.

"Oh, um, sorry, Forte. I was just lost in thought about something. Heh, heh..." Naruto replied to her sheepishly while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, make sure to do that next time when your off duty." Forte responded as she reprimanded Naruto like a captain would do to their subordinate.

"Yeah, I will," Naruto said nervously. "Hey, um, since we're both here, how about we finish our patrol together?" Forte looked at him in a questioning manner. This lasted for a minute with Naruto becoming more nervous by the second. Finally, Forte sighed before she relented to Naruto's request.

"Very well, Naruto. We better get finish quickly, Kiel is baking a chocolate cake and do not wish to be late." Forte finished with a small blush on her face. When Naruto heard her reason for wanting to finish their patrol soon, he couldn't help but sweat drop. Forte had a rather large sweet tooth, especially when there was cake involved. Whenever someone brought it up that she could always find room in her stomach after eating for cake, it left her in a sputtering mess as she tries and fails to deny their claim.

As the two continued their patrol around town, both had fallen into a peaceful silence as they looked for any unusual activity. During this time, Naruto couldn't help but think back to the reason why he decided to go into this profession.

A Dragon Knight.

Dragon Knights were knights that defended their Native Dragon from threats. Though, Forte had said that the position of a Dragon Knight is just a job that is on paper, considering the fact that her ability is nothing in comparison to Lady Ventuswill. Naruto had told her to give herself credit, she is currently the strongest person in Selphia (besides Volkanon, that man is in a league of his own in the strength department.) Forte had blushed a bit at his compliment and in return she thought of him as her equal. Naruto tried to deny her claim but she didn't back down in acknowledge him as her equal. When Naruto had first come to Forte requesting that he wanted to become a Dragon Knight, she had told him that she would first test him in a spar before requesting permission from Lady Ventuswill. When the two sparred against each other, both were shocked at the outcome.

Naruto had won.

Before the spar had begun, Forte had told Naruto to pick any weapon that he felt most comfortable with. There was surprisingly a large amount of weapons and a variety of them to choose from. When Naruto asked Forte where she got all these weapons from, she replied that Bado had lent them to her since he was a close family friend and an uncle-figure to her and her younger brother, Kiel.

As Forte had watched Naruto decide on what weapon to use, she had at first pegged him to be the type of person to go for either the long broadsword or the short sword with a shield. She was surprised when he had chosen a pair of twin, steel daggers. When she voiced her confusion, Naruto replied with a shrug saying that it just felt right to him.

When the two had started their spar, Forte quickly found herself on the defensive and a bit off-guard. While she was easily stronger than Naruto, he was much faster and agile than she was. He had used his superior speed and agility to wear her down all the while taking small but precise strikes that caused her to have to open her guard to defend herself. When the spar had ended, Naruto was just starting to break a sweat while Forte herself was using her sword to support herself. Both were equally surprised at the results of the match and when Forte asked if he had past experiences in combat, Naruto quickly told her that he didn't and he did what he felt was natural. After a break to allow Forte to catch her breath. She immediately demanded a rematch from. Naruto complied to her request with a grin on his face. This time, Forte had won. She was prepared for him and his speed this time around and used her experience of fighting swifter opponents than her to defeat him. The two warriors had one more spar that ended in a draw. Both were on what one would consider their last leg. While Naruto still had more stamina than Forte did, she used her experience to help her end the match in a draw instead of defeat.

After their spars, both Naruto and Forte had easily become friends and had a good sense of camaraderie as Forte could now rely on Naruto to watch her back instead of fighting enemies solo.

Naruto was once again shaken out of his daydreaming when Forte nudged him (unknowingly) hard in the side which caused him to wince.

"Naruto, I do believe we are done with our patrol today." Forte said with some annoyance in her voice as her friend/partner was once again lost in thought.

"Huh, oh yeah we are." When Naruto looked at her he saw her face set in an annoyed expression. Naruto then noticed that they were indeed done with their patrol and were close to his home. He also noticed that he had once again gotten lost in thought.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that Forte, it's just that I've had a lot on my today." Naruto responded with an embarrassed and slightly worried look on his face. He watched as Forte sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"Very well. I guess I'll see you later today, Naruto. Make sure to stay out of trouble." Forte replied with a smile on her face.

"Hey, it's me we're talking about. You don't need to worry about anything." Naruto said as he gave Forte a rather large smile. Not his mega-watt grin that he sometimes gave out, but a smile that was good natured and seemed to project happiness as well as quite infectiousness. Forte blushed as she quickly turned away to hide it and coughed into her hand.

"Yes, (cough) well, that is why I worry the most." She finished with a small smile, still avoiding eye contact with him, lest she get lost in those never ending oceanic, blue eyes of his.

"Ah, no trust I tell ya! No trust at all..." Naruto mumbled out the last part as he mock-pouted at the lack of trust from Forte. Forte herself easily resisted the urge to squeal at the sight of him pouting with those large eyes and -what she secretly found adorable- whisker-like birthmarks that made him seem like a small fox kit. Instead she settled for a giggle and turned away from him completely so he couldn't he the massive blush on her face.

"I'll see you later, Naruto. Maybe later we can have another spar?" Forte asked as she began walking away from him and back to her house where a home-cooked chocolate cake is undoubtedly waiting for her.

"Yeah, I'll see you then, Forte! Make sure to say hello to Kiel for me!" Naruto called out to her while waving goodbye to Forte as he watched her retreating figure.

"I will!" Came her last response.

Naruto sighed as he watched her retreating figure disappear in the distance. For some reason, whenever he was with her, Naruto felt like he could always let his guard down whenever she was around. Not to mention, his heart rate seemed to pick up whenever he started talking to her. Naruto shook his head and made his way to the town square where he could find something to do or someone to talk to.

As Naruto made his into the town square, he felt a light breeze pick up from the wind. Unlike most breezes, this one made Naruto frown as a carried a sense of foreboding. For some reason, Naruto felt like something big was about to happen. That's when he heard it.

At first, it was faint, but it slowly it became louder and louder and that's when Naruto noticed it was a scream of fright coming from above. He looked up and saw a rather small object in the distance. _'No.'_ Naruto corrected himself. _'Not an object but a person.' _The person got closer and closer until Naruto was able to make out that the person was a male due the masculinity in the scream. _'Then again,'_ Naruto thought. _'Some men do scream like girls.'_ Regardless, he watched as the person until they fell on on the castle-no, rather _inside_ the castle... Directly in the center of it... Also where Lady Ventuswill lived... And then Naruto heard a crashing sound followed by a loud roar of surprise. Ironically, no one else besides Naruto heard it as the townspeople continued on with their daily lives. Though, Naruto had heard it and immediately began dashing to the castle entrance where Lady Ventuswill resided in. Hopefully he can save the unfortunate person that landed on the back of Native Dragon rather hard. No doubt surprising and greatly annoying Lady Ventuswill.

_'For some reason,' _Naruto thought. _'My day just got a whole lot weirder. Whether it's a good sign or a bad one, I don't know.'_ With that last thought in mind, Naruto entered the castle to see what just happened to cause such a commotion.

**AN: AND... DONE! FINALLY! I got off my lazy ass and kicked my brain into gear. To be quite honest, I had only gotten this chapter done because I used all of my willpower force myself into working on this chapter all day. Sigh... now my mind and fingers hurt for thinking and typing for so long. Anyways, I apologize the rather slow updates on my stories but I am NOT! I repeat NOT! Discontinuing them or setting them up for adoption. Nope! I just have hard time trying to motivate myself and getting inspiration to write new chapters. I've always had that problem and I'm still looking for a way to fix it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'm still think of who I am going to put as a side-paring for Lest. I'm stuck between Dolce and Margaret. Margaret would technically be considered canon since the manga for RF4 had her and Lest together but I really like Dolce with her dry humor and very blunt personality. Anyway, I'll see you all later and I once again apologize on the late update and hope that you all enjoy the chapter!**


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